When traveling and seeing the world, it is always best to also understand the lay of the land.
That seems to be something we forget.
As tourists, it's suddenly, "All bets are off. I have no manners. And I'm here to burn down the town!"
You know people still live and work there right?
And that a touch of decorum is much appreciated.
So let's see what the locals would like from us while we visit.
Redditor Winterbeers wanted world travelers to listen up to the locals for a minute before you run off to your destination. They asked:
"People who live at tourist destinations, what is it you wish tourists would stop doing when visiting?"
I try my best to respectful when in other people's spaces. But how can we do better?
Rocked Off
"Going on the black rocks and being swept out to the Atlantic Ocean, risking the lives of first responders and locals many of whom are already traumatized from Swiss Air."
bassibear
Just be decent...
"Don't freaking carve your name on stuff!!! The amount of people who need to carve their names onto historical buildings and statues are just crazy. Don't be an a**. You are ruining the place. And respect peoples properties. Yeah, it's a cute street with cute houses and charming gardens. But that does NOT give you the right to enter peoples private properties to peep in their windows, walk in their gardens and try to open their doors."
"A colleague is selling his house because he's tired of people peeping in their windows and trying to open their door to have a look inside. He got yelled at for being inappropriate while he was sunbathing naked in his own garden by a tourist who let themself in the gate and walked around the house to have a look at his garden."
Frequent_Artichoke
Defacers
"Deface world heritage sites for souvenirs or internet clout."
"For example: The Colosseum in Rome has graffiti carved into it's walls by arsehole tourists and Stone Henge is closed off to the public because arseholes were chipping pieces off for souvenirs."
Bedlamcitylimit
"It is worth noting: at one point the 'caretakers' at Stonehenge handed out rock hammers to tourists for the specific purpose of chipping off bits to take as souvenirs. That was before the modern idea of 'museum as conservation of history.'"
beamrider
Snapshots
"Stopping their cars in the middle of the road to take in a view. WTF?"
Duality_is_my_prison
"They do this for wildlife where I live as well. I've seen idiots chasing bears with cubs into the forest to take pictures with their phones. A friend of mine lost a relative because a touron in a bear jam didn't look before pulling back into traffic on the road because he was so focused on the bear and didn't see the cyclists. Hit one of them and broke the cyclist's neck."
MizElaneous
Hands Off
angry yellowstone national park GIFGiphy"For your sake, STOP TRYING TO PET THE BUFFALO! Or don't, some of us are entertained by the videos of you flying through the air."
WyoPeeps
Why do we always want to touch the wild beasts? We have death wishes.
Too Many Sips
Happy Spring Break GIF by HBOGiphy"Driving drunk. I live in Sonoma County, California. Make sure you’ve got a sober driver ffs. The roads around here are never more dangerous than winery tasting room closing time on a sunny weekend."
XinaRoo
Money Woes
“'I paid a lot to be here.' 'Change (blank) or I’ll leave a horrible review.' Driving like a d**k head, leaving garbage anywhere but a rubbish bin, stopping in the middle of the road to let out your family of 12 instead of pulling into the parking lot. I have a lot of stories. I live in Hawaii and work only with tourists. Best yet, My company was asked to contact the cruise ship company to have them move the ship because it disrupted the sunset."
Ishart_thesherrif
Infested
"In my hometown, it somehow became a thing that tourists would rent mopeds. So when you are trying to get to work, you often get stuck behind a flock of tourists on mopeds, riding at 20MPH in formation so you cannot pass them. We are infested with gawking tourists moped gangs. If they want to rent mopeds, at least go the speed limit, and ride in a manner that allows others to pass you."
Panthean
Food Wars
"Stop feeding the damn seagulls."
AlwaysPhrasing
"I worked at Disney World for a few years and the squirrels there are vicious. People think it's fun to feed them so they are completely fearless. They'll hop right into a stroller and grab food from a child."
Jupiters
Proper Attire
Falling Down Lol GIF by America's Funniest Home VideosGiphy"Stop trying to hike up a mountain in flip-flops! Also, don't try to use an air mattress as a mode of transport between islands. Several of these every year."
JoetheGrim
Hey SoCal...
"I live in SoCal and... there's a lot, but one thing I find hilarious is the way people complain about the locals at Disneyland. 'The passholders ruin it for everyone! It's too crowded!' Like ok let me just not enjoy my local amusement park so that you can have less crowds during your vacation."
"Maybe stop traveling here in the summer. It's SoCal; it's warm all year long. Come in the winter. Another funny complaint I heard was: 'It's weird seeing the locals walk around chilling, like it's just a normal day for them. It kind of ruins the magic of Disney."
heidismiles
That Weekend
"Allowing their kids to do whatever they want. I grew up in a small tourist town that does Civil War re-enactments ( Ulysses S. Grant lived there when he won the presidency). Once a year they have a weekend where the Boy Scouts take over the town camping down by the river, taking tours of the historic buildings etc."
"Every year most of the downtown shops will close for this weekend because of how much the Boy Scouts will steal or vandalize while there. Everyone that lives their dreads that weekend because the troop leaders just let the scouts do whatever they want."
m00mrayne
What's left behind...
" Spain. We get a crap of tourists. Very well behaved for the most part where I am. So, thanks for doing it right, tourists. The worst is littering on the beach, which is thankfully pretty rare. I occasionally see someone put a cigarette butt in the sand. A lot are taken away when they leave, but the sand has away of hiding stuff, so a lot remain."
"I'll give you tourists one tip. Night swimming. If you put your keys, glasses, etc. down in the sand, they're gone. Between the sand and the dark, you'll never see them again."
sbenzanzenwan
History Spots
dallas cowboys football GIF by Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the TeamGiphy"Stop walking out into the middle of an active downtown street to take group pictures of yourselves in cheerleading outfits on the spot where Kennedy was shot."
stupidlyugly
Just Stop
"Clean up your f**king trash. I used to live in a spring break destination which was a small surf town. After spring break, people would be cleaning up pounds upon pounds of beer cans, broken bottles, needles, used condoms... f**king revolting.
"Edit for you nitpickers: I meant 'stop throwing your garbage on the ground.' There, now get off my cheeks."
MiniatureWendigo
Oblivious
"Amsterdam. Walking around like they're at Legoland, blindly stepping into traffic, oblivious to the fact that people actually live here. We use the bike to get to work, to get groceries, we're not just aimlessly cycling around for the fun of it."
bidluf
"I live in the Netherlands so I’m used to bikes. Amsterdam however truly is on another level. The residents ride their bikes like they are ready to kill anyone standing in their way."
neortje
Dead Pause
"Stopping dead in a crowd in the middle of the sidewalk."
ScoobyJoobyDigDog
"St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago when they dyed the river green, we had tourists stretched across the sidewalk taking photos with selfie sticks. I eventually had to gently, physically move them since a massive crowd was forming and they wouldn’t let anyone through."
Proper-Emu1558
Show some...
Respect Aretha GIF by MOODMANGiphy"Just respect the land! Clean up after yourself. Be very careful about making and extinguishing your fires (because forest fires!). Don't dump garbage, fuel, gray/black water in ditches."
"A big one in BC is for tourists to learn how to drive in mountainous areas. Most tourists drive way too slow (leading to road rage), and too many don't know how to stay right on highways except to pass. Or pull over to let people pass you if you don't know how to drive on twisty roads."
cabalavatar
Well this is all good information. Now... will people listen?